Metaphorically Speaking
by Elle the Brat
Summary: For a contest community on LiveJournal. Hikaru and Tamaki aren't as different as they'd like to think, and neither are Kaoru and Kyouya. Genfic, switching of Past and Present tenses to keep the story flowing, and shirtless Kyouya.


The day starts off as usual, with them waking up to turn off their first alarm.

Ten minutes later, their rooms fill will the sound of angry yelling as the second alarm is thrown against the wall.

And five minutes after that, when the third alarm has gone off and they've crawled out of bed unhappily to get to the other side of the room to turn it off, they're both thinking about the Host Club.

One wonders why it started, and the other wonders why it's still running.

The one who wonders why it started will then join his twin in the shower, their eyes still cloudy from sleep. The one who wonders why it's still running will take a shower by himself, until his first friend storms in and demands that he finish quickly, because they just _can't_ be late! Before the dramatic speech is over, he'll pull his friend – who learnt to wear a set of clothes that weren't his uniform, despite his fear of being tardy – into the shower and tell him to shut up.

Tamaki and Hikaru aren't as different as they'd like to think, and neither are Kaoru and Kyouya.

After they've gotten ready and are sitting in their cars, they both observe their partner and make mental notes. One considers things such as the mood, state of dress and hair, while the other notices small things that may be out of place – a loose thread, a rebellious hair sticking out of place, or a tiny shift in posture that announces his feelings for anyone who cares to look.

They get to school, and they willingly slip into the shadows. Tamaki doesn't take the spotlight – he _is_ the spotlight. Hikaru is the sun, and not letting him shine would be a sin.

And even though they do it in their own ways, they're both letting their partner develop. One stands aside and does things unnoticed, gently pushing him along, while the other stands up-front, hidden by the shadows cast by the sun, but just as visible as the moon. He's the one whose work is so hard to track – he does it in the open, and no-one looks to see it like they do with the other's.

Because who ever questions the moon? It provides comfort and a sense of strength, but the shadows induce fear of the unknown. It made sense to suspect the shadows and let the moon do as it pleased, manipulating its surrounding.

Because that's what Kaoru did. Hikaru suspected, but had grown so used to his little brother thinking of people as things that he began to do the same. He had even told the others that Kaoru was the truly evil one, and in a way, it was true. Kaoru was the one who acted the most, covering his feelings and initiating their acts. Hikaru thought of the pranks and Kaoru thought of ways to pull them off without a hitch. But Kaoru never manipulated Hikaru like Kyouya did to Tamaki. With Hikaru, Kaoru asked for things without any pretense, because they never lied to the other.

Kyouya made a game out of lying to Tamaki. He went out of his way to tell him elaborate fairy-tales, getting amusement when the blond realized that commoners wouldn't appreciate being woken up by a gang of trained monkeys at 3am. Of course, neither did Kyouya, but it was worth it to hear Haruhi chew the Host King out.

They both liked Haruhi, but at the same time, they hated her for putting their partners through so much heart-break. The fact that she was unaware of it just made it worse.

One would think that, being as similar as they were, they would realize that the other thought along the same lines as them. But it wasn't until they were sitting down, their partners having gone to fetch refreshments, that they even began to realize they had something in common.

"Chocolate syrup? I suppose it's not _that_ bad, but maple's definitely better." His almost-gold eyes were narrowed in an attempt to keep the amount of artificial light entering through his pupils to a minimum, sweat covering his back and making him shiver in the warm summer air. He wished his twin would come back with their towels already – the sweat was going to start drying and leave him with that icky feeling all over his skin, not to mention the fact that he was dying of thirst after playing three straight hours of Volleyball.

The Haruhi-dubbed 'Shadow King' next to him merely took off his glasses, and moved to clean them on a shirt he wasn't wearing. With a frown he replaced them, wondering when Tamaki would get back with his stolen change of clothes. He'd have to add that to the King's own debt (one he didn't exactly know about. It had been in existence since Kyouya had _met_ the idiot, and was more of a 'return with physical or mental punishment' deal than a 'you owe us money' one), along with the other things he had done to piss him off that day.

(Because Kyouya would like to know where Tamaki got the idea that adding lemon to milk tea was a _good thing_, and why he thought that serving it to his 'best friend' would make him happier. He was willing to bet it was the twins, but they were getting too good at covering their tracks these days.)

"Mm. Chocolate is too rich and thick, but maple's too thin to not spill everywhere." Kyouya didn't actually have a preference between the two. There was just nothing else to do, and there was no telling how long the missing Hosts would be. It was conversation for the sake of conversation, and really, talking about food condiments was about as safe as a conversation could get.

(The Ootori and Hitachiin families didn't have anything to gain from each-other, aside from uniforms and cheaper medical service/access to the Ootori Private Police, but when you're as rich as they are, even those things are very little compared to what other families in the same business area can offer. The Suoh family was one of the 'power families', because they owned Ouran Pre, Primary, Middle, High and Finishing schools, and every family had something to gain by getting into their favour. There was no need to keep an eye on their conversations like he did with Haninozuka or Morinozuka families, it didn't matter if he pissed the twins off.

Not only because their family didn't matter to his in the grand scheme of things, but also because they were too afraid of him to prank him properly.)

"Maple's light enough to not sink to the bottom in cake mixtures." Kaoru countered half-heartedly, feeling the strain of the day's events.

(He didn't feel like acting in front of Kyouya just then. Let him see that he wasn't really interested in the topic, it wasn't like it mattered all that much. The Hitachiin family was too well-known for the Ootori one to do something to any of its members. The only reason why he and Hikaru hadn't pranked the Shadow King was because they were _still_ waiting for the required items to make it through customs.)

"True, but there are chocolate sauces light enough to stay at the top." Most of which were more pleasant than the thicker ones. The light sauces weren't so sweet that they made you wince and hurriedly drink the closest beverage, regardless of whether or not you enjoyed its taste. Even Hani couldn't stand eating more than half of bottle of rich chocolate syrup – he would've liked to, but the harsh reality was that it burnt the back of his throat.

Kaoru merely raised an eyebrow. He was aware of the lighter sauce's existence – how could he not be? It topped a number of their mother's favourite desserts – and it would have been foolish to think that Kyouya didn't, but it was a bit of a mystery as to why he was continuing what appeared to be a pointless conversation.

"A chocolate and maple sauce would be nice. The chocolate would sink to the bottom to enrich the dish, and the maple would stay at the top to catch attention." _There_, the younger twin thought in amusement. _See if Kyouya-senpai catches the metaphor_.

And it appeared he did. A quick glance out of the elder's eye to gauge the twin's expression was all the confirmation Kaoru needed, and he had to fight back a smirk and force himself to look innocent.

After a few minutes, Kyouya seemed appeased with what he had gathered and continued the conversation – but only after pushing his glasses back up his nose.

"Maple syrup does have a habit of enticing the senses more so than chocolate." He murmered.

"And there's nothing wrong with the chocolate waiting behind the maple, to make the taste that much better."

Kaoru would have liked to reply – in fact, he had opened his mouth and gotten past the first two syllables – had it not been for a blond blur dashing past him and tackling Kyouya. He only had a few seconds to process a cry of his name before his own "maple syrup" was jumping onto his back, barely giving him enough warning to keep them both from falling to the ground as Kyouya and Tamaki had done.

"Ne, Kaoru, Tono wet his pants!"

"I did not, you lying demon! MOMMY! MAKE HIM STOP!"

It was then that Kyouya and Kaoru realized one thing that they had in common;

Ridiculously loud and large growths on their bodies.

---

A/N – Yes, it's supposed to make you think that they realize that they use the same metaphors, but instead they have Hikaru and Tamaki.

Please do not correct me on the spellings of the last names. There are many versions floating around, so please, if you're going to say something about that, _bugger off_.

Otherwise, this was an entry for a contest at ouran(underscore)contest, on LiveJournal. The challenge word(s) were "chocolate syrup", in the "oneshot" section. We're still waiting on votes – go on, if you've got an LJ, join the community and vote on them!

(My favourite's – am I allowed to say my favourite? Well, it's "Sweet Burning".)

And the ending's rushed because I was late for the deadline. Never trust an artist of any kind (eg – words) to hand something in on time. It's like telling to rain to stop at a specific time – it just doesn't happen.


End file.
